Nimona

Nimona has become a somewhat unique and troubled production, partly because it was based on a web comic that got its film rights picked up by Blue Sky Studios (sometime after Disney bought Fox I think) only to be cancelled after 75% of the film was completed; then Netflix and Annapurna Pictures came into the rescue and saved the film from oblivion. And it's become a success too: people are already making fan-art, remixes, and reviews are glowing for this unlikely underdog of a film.

Now the film itself is like a cyberpunk Legend of Zelda mixed with trace elements of Blade Runner, Zootopia, Monster's Inc, Kick Ass, and the subversive fantasy tropes of Shrek (with additional satire for society and government institutions). It's also a good, briskly paced time in this medieval cyberpunk land of flying horse carriages, glowing swords and doe-eyed children evoking anime kids and Disney heart melters too. The vibe of this film... it's unlike anything from PIXAR, DreamWorks or even Blue Sky; and maybe that was part of the reason the project suddenly ceased to be. It's good that Netflix picked the film up RIGHT from where Blue Sky left off.

Nimona has a world in it that's just begging to be explored even further, because the film itself is like the tip of an iceberg in a self-aware way with its in-universe life of dragon-themed cereals, toys and of course the soldiers being the Gate Keepers of a world dictated by myth. So what other myths exist in the world of Nimona? Who knows?

As a film Nimona is un-pretentious entertainment that knows it's audience likes multilayered worlds that live beyond the screen, that animation is best when it's a remix of long-standing tropes and styles making for an experience that's unconventional yet it becomes a foundation in itself.

Nimona gets 4/5 stars. 8/10 IMDb points.

It's funny how I initially read about Nimona (2023) as an upcoming animated film on Netflix, which inspired me to read the graphic novel, which itself made me watch the animated film when it came out. And while the movie was good, it was missing some of what made the graphic novel great. But that's always going to be the challenge of adapting a book into a movie. Using the source material as inspiration helped make this film a tight story that works for the medium.

Sure, I would have liked to have seen an animated film in the distinctive style of the graphic novel. The emotions and climax didn't have enough time to get deep enough-like they did on the printed page. Still, I can accept that movies like The Shining (1980), Ready Player One (2018), and Nimona are distinct and different, but just as good as the books they're based on. An exact adaptation is pointless when the source material already performed this service. Nimona hit the right amount of frenetic action and visual gags that could only work in the animated format.

As a PG-rated movie, they replaced the edgy bits of the graphic novel with some childish jokes to appeal to a younger audience. Even so, Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) was wonderfully sadistic and her "evil" expressions made me laugh out loud. Overall, the voice acting was superb, and the animation was clean-or at least as clean as the recent trend of "stylized" animation can be. Is it as game-changing as the book? Not really, but it's a fun film to watch. And, as I said in my review of the book, the more science fantasy stories we have like this in the world, the better.

A fun animated film inspired by the graphic novel of the same name, I give Nimona 4.0 stars out of 5.

I went in knowing nothing of the comics or the troubled production history, so I didn't have any expectations. I thought this would be just an entertaining animation movie on par with most Pixar products as I thought it would have more of an edge than Disney movies. So I was very pleasantly surprised by the originality and quality of Nimona! Yes, some parts are a bit predictable but in this day and age that's almost impossible to avoid so that's not an issue for me. But the rest, from the story to the directing and of course the gorgeous animation, is top notch and made me sad it was already over when the end credits rolled out! Highly recommended!

Nimona is a heavier movie than expected, but for the most part in a good way. One character is severely wounded early in the film, which sets the tone for an animated film that isn't quite aimed at young-young kids but is more aimed at a "ready for the Lion King" age range. That was surprising given the trailer, but not bad.

The character of Nimona is fascinating; she's a shape-shifter character who doesn't clearly have a "base form" but takes advantage of that characteristic in the full range. Whale, Gorilla, Ostrich--it's all fair game, and she enjoys the transformations and causing chaos generally. If you enjoyed the shapeshifting in the Dungeons and Dragons movie, this will be right up your alley.

It's based on a comic by Nate Stephenson, who is the same creator that made She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. So, think the energy and vibe of She-Ra if you happened to see that, but with a much better animation budget. (And if you end up liking this film, and haven't seen She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, that might be a good follow-up).

There is no doubt that Nimona is a movie aimed at a younger audience. That being said, I, as a 32 year old man, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Aside from the usual action packed high jinks you would expect from a fast paced story such as this, there are a number of twists in the story that I didn't see coming, as well as a few humorous moments that caught me off guard. Usually, movies like this fall under the banner of "fun, but predictable". That label does not apply to Nimona. The story feels refreshing. It takes things that feel familiar and gives them a new twist. Kudos to the writers.

Speaking of Nimona, the titular character of this movie, she is definitely the big draw of this movie. Watching Nimona, it's clear that a lot, if not most of the animation budget went into animating her character specifically. Add to this the voice acting of the very talented and experienced Chloë Grace Moretz and you have quite a gem on your hands. Her voice is like bubblegum. It feels like she can do just about anything with it. Her character is tragic in a way, and you really empathise with her sense of loneliness. All the other characters are well voiced and animated as well, with the character of Ballister functioning as the "straight man" (ironic term I know) to her wacky antics. This balance, though it's definitely been done before, works well.

As for the visual style and the animation. It's all computer work (no motion capture on the faces far as I could tell), and at times it does look a little "video gamey" to me. This seems to have become a standard in the industry, especially when it comes to platforms like Netflix, so I won't complain about it for too long. The animation itself is definitely very well done. It's always lively and never feels stilted. I read that Nimona faced some production issues, so I suppose we should all be glad it even got made. I must say I really enjoyed the soundtrack as well. It really hit during some of those more somber beats in the story especially.

I would recommend this movie to just about anyone.